A two weeks ago Lwd. invited me to almost surreal event. It was the official opening of the days of the Russian culture and cinema and he wanted to see a movie from 1916 but couldn't remember its name. I haven't had dose of _that old_ movie since the time at the Academy and I found it great idea.

The movie was A Life for a Life (Zhizn za zhizn ), directed by Yevgeni Bauer and indeed it was amazing piece keeping in mind the time when it was shot. Taken just an year before the Revolution, it had rich set decoration and costume design. Camera and cutting techniques also deserved a bow, because what today we get as normal was quite unusual in 1916. And here comes the best: it was a silent movie, so it was accompanied by live piano performance. Enough for the movie.

The really impressing part was before it. There were welcome message that lasted more than 40 minutes (longer than the movie we were about to see). The atmosphere was just as if taken from the 40's, with all these long inspirational speeches by important Russian artists. Probably Lwd. and I were the youngest youngest audience in the whole hall. Lwd. deserved true applauses because he was understanding most of the Russian without any help. Without some of the jokes we had, I wouldn't survive the prologue. Undoubtedly Lev Durov made it even more unforgettable with a 20 minutes recital. Have some of it below:

A little late but almost in time (keeping in mind that it is still October), here are the pictures from Octoberfest'08.

And of course, the wurstels!

This trip will be remembered thanks to two or better three things (in order or appearance):

Me, waking up at 6.13 am and the airplane leaving at 7.15 am (deja vu, as it happens for a second time last quarter);

Because I was dramatically late when I reached the airport, the economy check-in was already closed, that's why I got a boarding pass for the business class (which didn't make big difference as I was short of breath thanks to the morning kickstart);

B. who on the way back forgot to take out of her bag the super-brandless-anti-thief-neuro-paralytic spray and we all had close encounters with the airport security guys.

I took a Neil Gaiman's book but suddenly I felt too lazy to read. Some things lead to others and I remembered that Coraline was across the corner last spring. It turned out that waiting is almost over and will eventually end in February next year.

There's no doubt what Vladimir Putin's favorite birthday present is this year — a rare Ussuri tiger cub.

State television showed the Russian prime minister tenderly petting the 2-month-old female cub Friday at his residence outside Moscow. The cub, weighing about 20 pounds, was curled up in a wicker basket with a tiger-print cushion.